Will this heavy boat work to windward ?

[JimCooper]

To the naval archtects and marinel engrs and those in the know

I hope I have attached some pictures here of a sail boat.

Do you think she would be a good sea boat ? 50 feet long 30 tons. Lots of sail area.

Would she work to windward in a gale with a total draft of 1 fathom?

I am looking for a friend of mine, if he doesn't I might.

Thanks

James

[FAST FRED]

The simple "rule of thumb" for conventional full keel boats is the draft should be more than 1/7 of the LWL.

So on this boat if the LWL is about 42 ft ,,7 x 6 (("one fathom")) is about 42 and you should be OK with out help like a center board.

Most likely a cruiser would assist with the engine ticking over at 1200 to give better windward ability , but its NOT necessary, just helpfull.

Working out in a storm will mostly depend on weather the correct sails are aboard, not underbody shape or area.

A Storm trysail and storm staysail works far better than a heavly reefed main and usually useless roller furled sail 1/10 unrolled.


FAST FRED

[asathor]

It looks like steel, if it is, you can always add "leeboards" or fins of sorts as long as the sail plan is OK.

[MikeJohns]

Jim
Change the single plate rudder to a double plate with a decent foil section, you may want to add a bit of depth to the keel.

This is a NZ Woollacot design, more common in this part of the world. I think you will find she used to be a centre boarder and has had a long deep shoe added already to the keel.

Try and find someone who sailed her in a gale, can be hard I know, but since she has been modified she may not stand up to her sail enough to work to winward in heavy weather.